Sunday, November 16, 2008

Turkey Day Troubles - Installment #2

I just finished reading a book (Cooking for Mr. Latte) written by Amanda Hesser, a food writer for the New York Times. In one of her chapters she writes, "I have a few favorite dishes, I rarely make them." She goes on further to describe those old tried and true recipes, "You know, ones that I'll want to return to for years and years. You make it again and again, altering it to your liking, it becomes an expression of you aesthetic, of your palate, of who you are. And when you serve that dish to guests, they come to understand you a little better."

I couldn't help but connect with her words. This blog keeps me on the chase. I am constantly trying new things and I rarely make anything twice. That wouldn't be so interesting if I continued to post the same recipe every week. So in the last six months I have posted about 90 different recipes on this blog and have never featured my "signature" dish. The dish I bring to all gatherings that are food focused. The dish that I have probably made a couple of dozen of times. The dish that I believe identifies part of me. The dish that tells so much about my childhood eating habits........

Growing up I was a very picky eater. I can remember my Thanksgiving plate had Artichoke Dressing, Crescent Rolls and "The Dish". Baked Macaroni and Cheese. For years it was one of the only side items at gatherings that I truly enjoyed. And it reminds me of the holidays. Even though times have changed and these days my plate is running over with everything available, I still crave that classic dish. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving (or Christmas, or Easter, or - ok you get the point) without that side item. So if I were home this Thanksgiving, I would most assuredly bring my Golden Macaroni and Cheese to my mom's house and would like to suggest it to the members of my family who will be pitching in to help my mom this year with Thanksgiving dinner.

Golden Macaroni and CheeseAdapted from Southern Living 2004 Annual Recipes

The easy method for making the thickener for the cheese sauce is the key to this recipe. You simply shake the ingredients in a jar - it is fool proof and fun! I know that Baked Macaroni and Cheese may not be the most traditional Thanksgiving side item, but I promise you it will be a hit if you decide to include it on your menu. The children at your dinner will be ecstatic, because what child doesn't love Mac n' Cheese? And the adults will be thankful for this classically rich dish as well.

In the past I have posted some recipes that could be considered Thanksgiving Day options as well. Check out the links below:

I'm new to your blog and absolutely love the recipes you put up! I make this exact same mac and cheese and it's my signature dish too. We also have the Andouille Cornbread Dressing every year at Thanksgiving!

hey, this recipe was great! i didn't have enough breadcrumbs when i made it, so i topped it with french's french fried onions instead of the crumbs. came out soooo good, gonna use it with the regular green bean casserole this year.

This looks amazing! I'm 19 and I'm planning on contributing to Thanksgiving this year. I've been looking for a pretty easy, but delicious, recipe & I'm pretty sure this is it!! I wanted to add crumbled bacon to it, also? Hmm.... Thanks!

We were looking for a mac n cheese recipe to make on Christmas and came upon this one. It was the best dish we had at the table, so delicious! I have made baked mac n cheese in the past but nothing came close to this one!

I have tried to make mac and cheese over and over and it is never as good as my grandmother used to make. I am going to try yours. I like the milk in jar technique. So happy to have found you on pinterest. I am now your newest follower. If you have a chance check out my blog.

Just made this today for our 4th of July get together and it was hit with kids AND adults! I just added it to the menu for my daughter's 1st b-day party this weekend! Followed the recipe exactly. I'm curious how a blend of plain breadcrumbs and italian breadcrumbs would taste.

We always have mac n cheese on thanksgiving...and whenever we get the urge. We loooove it! But I always end up with afrozen one :( tried to make homemade once and it was NOT good lol. This looks easy and delicious. Im trying this recipe tonight! Thanks!

I love the simplicity of the recipe, yet the flavour is so rich and creamy. I like onion with my cheese, so I make my flour mix in the blender adding roughed chopped onion, tbsp mustard, ketchup, bajan pepper sauce.

I made this today with my leftover cheeses, swiss, monterrey jack, and mozzarella, and used garlic salt and italian bread crumbs since that's what I had. I also used 1 C evap milk and 1 C water since I didn't have milk. We had nothing in our kitchen but this stuff and it came out awesome!! I used two loaf pans instead of the other sizes.

Made this last night and my husband and I were disappointed at the bland flavor. It did look just like the picture, though--gorgeous. What are other people adding to give flavor, and what's the green I see in yours? My onion salt is only white. :)

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy it. The flavor is really one of just cheese, lots and lots of cheese. I find it very important to use one block of Sharp Cheddar and another Block of Extra Sharp Cheddar and to shred the cheese yourself, the preshredded stuff just doesn't produce the same results. The green flecks in mine are from Italian Breadcrumbs that I used to dust the top of the dish. My recipe says to use plain, because I always use plain, but if I recall correctly I think I was out the day I made this version that I photographed and had to use Italian. Either works, but I prefer plain. The other flavor element is onion salt, but once again cheese flavor is really the huge take away here - nothing more fancy than that.

This looks fabulous but I wanted to know if you tried playing around with the cheeses. Do you only use cheddar? Have a tried a mont-jack or muenster? Also, have you tried adding mustard to the mix?

I have made baked mac and cheese before, but it tends to be dry. I like the way yours looks creamy, but I wanted to ask if you have tried playing with the flavor profile before I tried adjusting the recipe.

I have never made any substitutions to this recipe. As I mentioned it is one of my staples and so widely loved that I have never had the desire to change a thing! But do let me know if you try it out with different cheeses, I would be interested to hear about the results.

This looks easy and delicious so, that's why I'm making it for dinner tonight. How many servings does this make? I just boiled 8 ounces of noodles and it doesn't look like very much. I'm also planning on making this for Thanksgiving and need to feed a lot of people. Great blog!

hi- this looks so good, i want to make it for thanksgiving this thursday. i was wondering if you have ever prepared the dish, and left the baking for the next day? im wondering if this would effect the thickness of the sauce. thank you!!

Sure you can make this the night before, cover and place in the fridge until ready to bake the next day. I do it all the time! The dish will be just as delicious as if you did it all in one day, I promise! Enjoy

Made this for thanksgiving and everyone absolutely loved it! The only thing I did different was add a can of stewed tomatos. Hands down best mac n cheese I've tasted!! It's going to be a regular at my house.

I found this recipe more than two years ago on FoodGawker and I have to say I absolutely love it! The younger kids don't like the breadcrumbs so I only put them on half and it's still a great dish. I will say, it makes a huge difference if you do not grate the cheese yourself. It's time consuming but SO WORTH IT. And definitely use that extra sharp cheddar. Fantastic recipe.

This was great! Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe. Since it's just my husband and I, we had about half left over. I froze it... but now we want to eat the rest! How should I go about re-heating it? The Mac-n-cheese is in the glassware that I cooked it in.

tried it loved it super super yummy and the fussy eater(the boyfriend) of the house never complains when i put this on the table sometimes ill add bacon or ham in the mix as well just to change things up this is now a regular meal in my home thanks for sharing

Made this last week as a trial run for Thanksgiving. I've tried 3 other version of homemade macaroni & cheese and they are either just meh, or one of my kids don't like it. But this one, my entire family of 4 loved it! I couldn't stop eating leftovers. My new staple! Thank you

This was an amazing recipie! I followed the directions except I mixed in homemade bacon bits. Highly recommended! It is going to be my go to mac and cheese from now on!my family loved, loved, loved it!

A-mazing! I've tried plenty of mac n cheez recipes,but this is the best one by far! The only thing I did different was use pepper jack & Colby jack cheese..ok, n a lil black pepper n ground mustard. I was a little skeptical of the look of it when i poured it in the baking pan, but im glad i didnt let that stop me. Absolutey delicious! This will be my go to mac n cheese from now on! Thx for sharing!